First Impressions: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

It’s not really a good sign when the fourth network in now a five team race decides to have not one, but two shows on it’s fall lineup based a show that everyone hasn’t been funny in a while (I’ll go with circa the Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Mike Myers era). But that’s what NBC has done, one a drama, which seems to be topping every critics best list (as well as my preseason pick) the other being a sitcom that looks to be on a few first to be canceled list, 30 Rock. But it was Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip that I got a sneak peak at.

The show is the mastermind Aaron Sokin, creator of the great, but sadly short lived Sports Night depicting the backstage at a Sportcenter type show. My sources tell me that he ran another show that had modest success, but apparently I missed that one. Oh well. The pacing of the first episode was a little slow at times and the oversized cast as well as other bit players left me throughout the show wondering who was who and what relation they were to their co-workers at the fake network, NBS (NBC and ABC were both referenced during the show so presumable NBS is another network in the real world). There were even cue scenes that tell you who people are as they introduce them, but I still haven’t figured out who the “Big Three” are in context of the show.

The show centers around an on air breakdown of the current show runner, guest Judd Hirsh (Dear John), of Studio 60 who was not too fond when the studio’s Standards and Practices decided to pull a religious based sketch just seconds before the show starts. Apparently the scene mirrors that of one in the movie Network that every critic, and the show for that matter, has brought up, but the movie is older than me, so I really didn’t make the connection. Not really the first day new president, Amanda Peet (Saving Silverman), had envisioned. To deflect from the negative publicity, Peet decides to bring back two people who were around the last time the show was worth wild in Matthew Perry (Almost Heroes) and Bradley Whitford (the Sokin show I didn’t watch). The only problem with bringing them back in is that they have gone onto bigger and better things as well as the guy who unceremoniously pushed them out the door, Steven Weber (Wings) is still around.

Since we really don’t spend much time with the fake show except for the actual meltdown, we really don’t get to meet the cast of the fake show as they only pop up periodically during the first episode. Sarah Paulson (nothing worth mentioning) looks like will have the biggest storyline in future weeks as she hooked up with Perry during his first stint, but things went sour afterwards as the reason they broke up is about as funny as the reason Perry tells everyone. Then there is D.L. Hughley (Soul Plane) who plays the token black guy not only on the real show, but the fake show as well. Newcomer Nathan Corddry also pops up but doesn’t have much here in the first episode. I guess it’s possible that this was the Big Three previously mentioned, but I wouldn’t bet the bank on it.

The first episode was a little disappointing, even though it is a drama, being based on the backstage of something that is funny, there should have been more laughs. But like most pilots, they are too busy setting up the premise of the show, sometimes things gets too crammed so hopefully the show hits its stride in the next couple episodes. With the episode filled with a bunch of network suits who haven’t laughed since high school, Peet is a breath a fresh air as she is the one who isn’t taking things too seriously even though she should be the most concerned as it is her first day on the job. Since the show is based on Saturday Night Live, it looks like there will be a slew of guest “host” as Felicity Huffman, who also starred in Sports Night, pops up in the pilot and my sources tell me Lauren Graham will make an appearance later this season in that role.

Verdict: Not as good as expected and had some pacing issues as it was too fast in some places but too slow in others, but there are definitely signs of greatness and should get much better after everything is ironed out. But if this is the best new show of the season, that isn’t a very good sign of what’s to come. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip premieres Monday at 10:00. If you can’t wait, you can watch the pilot in its entirety, commercial free, at AOL.